Design Great

Sense of Place

The front entrance is what can make or break a landscape... this is a re-occurring theme in my blog posts because I think it is one of the most important aspects of the landscape.


One of the important things we were taught in my years studying Landscape Architecture was that we were to give the visitor of a landscape the idea of a sense of arrival... or give the visitor a sense of place!

Being a young first year University student back then...you just blindly wrote down words uttered by your prof in hopes that one day youd understand what they were talking about... of course, in my mind, the term needed further study which paved the way to an understanding that creating a landscape with a sense of place, would take a few years of practice to master the idea....


Wikipedia defines the term in a round about way as a place that has a special relationship to both the area and context it is located in as well as a special, unique or authentic feel to the person visiting the space.

Have I mastered this unique experience in my designs? Many clients have told me they love the landscapes I created for them... Each one unique to the home and to the user of the space... each place has its own feel and energy to it and provides hours of enjoyment while a person uses the space. I guess by that definition and their comments, I have discovered how to put a "Sense of place" into the landscape...

But by my own definition, I am constantly learning and improving with the next design...striving to bring a unique flavour that is unmatched by my older work... so to say I have mastered it... I think the day I decide to retire from my work would be the day I consider that idea...